


Books and Frowns

by DeeNomilk



Series: Tashok the Dragonborn [6]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: ? - Freeform, Ancano doesn't strike me as someone very patient or tolerating, Character Study, Frustration, Ruminations, Tash is like his nightmare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 04:12:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18218051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeeNomilk/pseuds/DeeNomilk
Summary: An Ancano-centered piece. A small insight on his frustration with the College, as well as the presence of something that may make his situation marginally more tolerable.





	Books and Frowns

**Author's Note:**

> This has to be the 'chapter' that makes me the most nervous so far. I'm all good writing about my own characters, but very new to writing other's, especially canon characters. I feel that this is the one I'm most open to feedback for, mainly because of that.

Acano truly hates Skyrim. He hates Winterhold even more, with its freezing temperatures, perma-snowfall and the equally frigid hospitality the members of the College had towards him.

He understands why of course, what with him being an obvious Thalmor spy, but that doesn’t mean he needs to like it.

So far they’ve done many subtle and not so subtle attempts to try and drive him away, but their efforts are in vain. He will remain where the Thalmor send him until they deem it necessary or until he dies, such is his situation. 

It’s his own fault, really. After his recent blunder he’s fortunate to still be allowed to roam relatively free, unsupervised and not be imprisoned or dead. To have been given a second chance instead of being made to be an example of what happens when you fail.

Then again, just because he’s grateful doesn’t mean he’s happy. Far from it.

He sneers to no one in particular as he rises up the stairs towards the Arcaneum, hoping the Archmage isn’t anywhere near. He’s not in the mood to encounter him.

Between his hollow answers and careless attitude, he’s proved to be the biggest hurdle to his investigation. Another affront to him was the Archmage’s absolute refusal allow him to keep a pet on College grounds. Ancano had hope for either an owl - even a cat - anything really as long as he had some friendly company. Some warm, living thing to distract him from, well, Skryim. He wouldn’t dare try and put in a formal request, nothing that could be made official and be shared with the Thalmor.

He serves the Aldmeri Dominion with pride, but he is no fool. Idle affections towards meaningless creatures don’t matter in the slightest, and he’s not going to risk even hinting ay the fact that he may or may not be lonely to his superiors. It's ridiculous! Thalmor don't get lonely.

It's such a pathetic feeling to have.

He’s not supposed to be distracted, much less actively seek distractions. Not now that he has a chance to prove himself as a true Altmer by performing this assignment perfectly.

The members of the College are making this particularly hard, feigning ignorance at his inquiries and dodging his every questions. He knows they start mocking him and his shortcomings as soon as he leaves their vicinity. He knows it in their sideways glance, their callousness at any of his actions and the conversations becoming hushed as soon as he nears them. His reports to his superiors are dreadfully bland and contain very little information of note, which in turn produces urging orders for him to _dig deeper_.

His heart begins to ache, the feeling as surprising as it is unwelcome, and his sneer deepens.

He’s almost up the steps to the Arcaneum when he hears the excited and absolutely obnoxious voice of one of the recent apprentices asking what he assumes is her billionth question directed at the librarian. This almost makes him want to wait until she leaves before entering the Arcaneum, however the realization that this could range from a few minutes to hours kills that notion.

“Do you have anything about Nord Crypts and Draugrs?” he notices the young Orc practically draped over Urag’s desk.

“Plenty.” Urag replies flatly. “What are you looking for, exactly?”

“Everything!” the apprentice smiles as she gesticulates.

Urag responds only with a blank stare, at which the apprentice’s ears droop slightly while she scratches her cheek in embarrassment.

“Well, maybe start with their history? The how and why of them…” she offers a nervous chuckle.

This seems to satisfy Urag, as he nods before going off to one of the cabinets.

“You’re so good at remembering where everything goes!” the apprentice couldn’t be more obvious with her bootlicking if she tried.

Even the Khajiit apprentice had taken note of it, if his comment to the other apprentices after their first lessons was to be taken seriously.

“While you’re fetching that waste of ink and paper,” Ancano strides towards the desk and waves his hand dismissively. “See if this establishment has anything by Master-Wizard Elsius, specifically his series on Destruction magic theories.”

“I’m sure I have some volumes intact, I’ll fetch them after Tashok has everything.” Urag doesn’t bother to turn around as he answers.

“Surely Elsius’ writings are far more important than some Nord superstitions…” Ancano looks derisively at the apprentice.

“Well, I’ve been going into a lot of crypts and ruins lately…” the Orc apprentice rubs at her side before looking him straight in the eye with a shy smile. “The more I understand, the more likely I am to get out alive!”

“Mh… Certainly.”

Why the apprentice believes Ancano cares is lost on him.

“What about you?" she drums her fingers on Urag's desk. "Why are you looking for, who was it? Master Elsius’ books?”

“The fact you need to ask tells me even if I were to explain it, the words would not hold any meaning to you.” Ancano barely manages to stifle a groan.

“That’s fair.” if the Orc is bothered by his veiled insult to her intelligence, she doesn’t show it. Perhaps she's dim-witted enough not to notice. “I’m not really one for Destruction magic.”

Gods, he prays she doesn’t start yapping on about some unimportant subject.

“I’m more of an alchemist than a mage, actually.” she starts, getting visibly excited. He grumbles internally. “I’m still learning, obviously, but if you ever need a potion, feel free to ask. I’m pretty good at healing potions and poisons, oh, and not too bad for invisibility too! Even more fun, considering, you know, Skyrim, is that I figured out a way to mix purple mountain flowers, horker fat and snowberries to-"

“This wasn’t an invitation for conversation.” Ancano shuts her down cooly before she can say any more. His head is already starting to hurt. How can someone with a voice so breathy be so damned _loud_?

For all his efforts to get the other members of the College to reveal _anything_ to him, he wishes this one in particular would tell him less. Or at least tell him something of interest.

“Besides, I’ve got your books, young one.” Urag puts down a pile of four books down on the desk, before writing down the apprentice’s first name in the ledger. “Enjoy the read. You better not bring the books with you into the ruins, or I'm hanging you from your heels off the bridge. I know Tolfdir is bringing the lot of you to Saarthal soon.”

“They’ll stay warm, dry and clean! Promise!” the young Orc takes the books by the arm before waving at the two men. “Take care!”

Ancano rolls his eyes.

“Now.” he sighs as he straightens his back to Urag. “The books.”

—

Ancano quickly switches hands with which he holds his book, tucking the now cold and stiff one into his robes.

Curse this place.

And curse the members of the College for giving him the smallest and coldest room in the entire establishment.

He briefly considers closing the door to his room to avoid the chances of another mage walking by and seeing him as a shivering mess, but knows the heat coming off the rest of the Hall of Attainment will be closed off if he does.

He finds solace in the knowledge that it is well past midnight and the rest of the College members are fast asleep. Drevis’ attempts at teaching, if he can even call it that, the Orc apprentice about the ‘mysteries of the outer realms’ thankfully died down a little over an hour ago, when the two mages’ yawns distracted them too much to keep track of the conversation.

With that in mind he tries to focus on his reading and ignore the chill seeping deep into his bones.

He suddenly feels a small mass pressing itself onto his leg, making him jolt in surprise and drop the book with a gasp.

What he sees throws him for a loop.

A grey cat, less than a year old by the looks of it, is rubbing its sides against his calf. With no one around, he doesn’t even bother to hide his bewilderment.

“What…” he gapes as he bends down to offer his hand to the small grey creature.

It immediately pushes its head onto his knuckles, demanding it be pet with twinkling golden eyes.

…

Who was he to deny it?

He takes off his gloves to pick it up and gently places it on his lap before rubbing its ears with both hands. Wherever this cat came from, it brought its warmth along. It closes its eyes and purrs surprisingly loudly at the attention it’s getting from the Altmer. Ancano notices it has a lavender cloth tied around its neck into a small bow… This cat clearly belongs to someone either in the College or in Winterhold itself, but whoever they are, they surely won’t miss it for a few hours. And since it’s not technically his cat, the Archmage can’t protest its presence, and his superiors will remain blissfully unaware of it.

For the first time since he came to Skyrim, he feels something akin to peace and allows his eyes to close shut as he listens to the steady purr from the cat while he feels the soft warm fur between his cold fingers.

—

The cat is gone the next morning, but the spot of pushed blankets at his feet confirm that this wasn’t just a cold, sleep induced dream, but a reality.

There’s a cat in the College.

**Author's Note:**

> Most of what Tashok has been up to since the first lessons, involves her making potions, practicing magic, selling her potions and doing odd jobs (ie: quests) to get money, while stopping once a week in Windhelm to rent a room for Sofie and check up on her. Busy girl.


End file.
